NEW YORK -- The nation's largest city inched closer to normalcy Wednesday, three days after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy.

The famed five-borough marathon will go on. The Knicks-Nets NBA season opener will not.

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Public schools remain closed through Friday. The Halloween parade got a trick, not a treat.

Mass transit riders got major service restorations. Motorists got new restrictions.

And thousands of New Yorkers remained without electricity.

The internationally famed marathon run by the New York Road Runners Club will take place on its course through the five boroughs Sunday as scheduled, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday.

"There are tens of thousands of people who come from around the world here to run," he said. "We've decided that the marathon will go on."

Nearly 50,000 runners had been scheduled to compete, but organizers weren't sure how many would make it to the Staten Island starting line. Registered runners who can't make it will get automatic entries for next year's marathon.

Bloomberg recommended that the NBA postpone the hotly anticipated Nets-Knicks interborough showdown at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Limited subway service would have made it harder for hoops fans to get there.

Bloomberg also announced that public schools would remain closed Thursday and Friday.

The city education department posted resources for helping children cope with the hurricane's trauma. There was no immediate posting of similar resources for parents.

The mayor postponed Thursday night's Halloween parade for the first time in the event's 39-year history. He said the city could not spare the police officers and other personnel needed to supervise the gala.

Subway and commuter rail riders got a Halloween news treat: partial restoration of service starting Thursday morning on most of the city's underground lines and resuming Wednesday afternoon on some Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad lines to the suburbs.

Reacting to major traffic jams Wednesday as Manhattan bridges and tunnels reopened, Bloomberg announced that all cars entering the borough between 6 a.m. and midnight Thursday and Friday must have at least three people in them. The restriction applies to all crossings except the George Washington Bridge.

"The bottom line is the streets can only handle so much," Bloomberg said.

Consolidated Edison reported Wednesday afternoon that utility crews were working around the clock to restore service to about 786,000 customers in New York City and Westchester County still without power.

"We suspect by Sunday most of the power will be back, if not all of it," Bloomberg said.

USA Today